Crosblog

Not really. But I get responses. I complained to my Senators about their lack of support for the Coburn Amendment, and lo and behold, I got a response from Johnny Isakson, reproduced unedited, in its entirety:

Thank you for contacting me regarding the Coburn Amendment to the Transportation, Treasury, HUD Appropriations Bill. I am glad to have the opportunity to set the record straight.

I voted for the Steevens (sic) amendment and against the Coburn amendment. Both amendments prioritized the Louisiana bridge for construction, but the Coburn amendment moved money only from one state while the Steevens (sic) amendment prorated money from each state. This tax is paid by the residents in every state each time they buy a gallon of gasoline, and it is deposited into the highway trust fund to be used for highways, bridges, and other road construction in each state. I believe each state should set its own priorities for the use of federal dollars it has been allocated and each state should share equitably in reductions.

Please know that I share your frustration with Congressional spending on pork projects. I have consistently voted in favor of sustaining the budget points of order against amendments that exceed budget authorization, and I will continue to work for spending restraint and fiscal responsibility.

Thank you again for contacting me, and I hope you will not hesitate to call on me in the future if I can be of assistance to you.

Sincerely,
Johnny Isakson
United States Senator

First of all, props to the guy for giving a full response to an email, even if it's a response that makes me regret having voted for the tool.

To quote: "I believe each state should set its own priorities for the use of federal dollars it has been allocated and each state should share equitably in reductions." - The problem, Johnny Boy, is that states have been allocated way more federal dollars then they deserve, and Alaska, with a triumverate of wallet leeches serving in the House and Senate, gets allocated way more then they need or deserve. As long as Congressmen measure their effectiveness in "amount of local projects we can shoehorn into appropriations bills," there will be a problem. True frustration with pork only exists when someone can actually identify it, and take steps to single it out. If you live in Georgia, and you want a Senator like that, you want a Senator other than Johnny Isakson.

But thanks for the response. Really cleared things up.

Oh, and it's Stevens. Two "e's," not three.

Condemnation of Syria's involvement in the Hariri assassination will not mention the possibility of sanctions.

So, the UN is appealing to Bashir Assad's better nature to get him to take action.

Yeah, that'll work.

I can't believe Stone Cold signed off on this.

Apparently Maureen Dowd has written another article about how the fact she's not married proves men suck and we need another feminist revolution. (Preferably armed this time.) Karol pretty much sums it up:

She guesses she's too powerful, she guesses she's too smart, she thinks she's too independent but she never seems to guess that it's because she's sort of crazy and erratic and people tend to run screaming from her uninformed snark.

I don't know who these men are that are supposedly scared off by Women Like Her. I married someone who has more degrees than me, who makes more money than me, and hell, in heels, she's even taller than me. She also holds many political views Maureen Dowd would approve of. (She likes guns, which probably doesn't meet with the approval of too many NYT employees, but if you're looking for female empowerment, she's also a much better shot than me.) The only time I find her threatening is when she's shopping. (And sometimes when I beat her in fantasy football, but then, she's actually threatening me, so I figure that's OK.) I married a strong, intelligent, independent, (mostly) liberal woman, and oh yeah, I voted for George Bush twice. (15 times, if you count all the times Karl Rove registered me in Ohio.)

Maybe I'm unique in the world among men. It would explain a lot. OK, maybe it's just me and Lileks. But the thing is, when two intelligent, professional people try to make a relationship work, both sides have to compromise, probably a lot. Sure, I've made accomodations, and learned to accept differences, but so has she. Reading Mo's column, I think she would consider making those accomodations a sellout of her feminist instincts. You know, God forbid she be any kind of a Maxim girl.

I'm not kidding. God forbid that. Please.

Fascinating story about the Detroit city official in charge of making sure elections run fairly and smoothly. Media reports and lawsuits have established voters registered to vacant buildings, Alzheimer's patients voting with the "help" of the Clerk's workers, and a system that makes it impossible to conduct recounts - all combined with a Clerk who doesn't even feel the need to explain herself.

Good old Detroit. Nice to see things haven't changed.

Tip - Hubs and Spokes.

Clearly well-qualified, if you consider things like intellect and relevant experience. If you consider things like the possibility he will rule in ways detrimental to your policy goals, well, who the hell knows then.

Just a thought, though, to those hoping to reap political gains from conservative disappointment with Bush & Co. The dream that disaffected conservatives will either vote for the other side, or just stay home, is going to vanish in smoke once Chuck Schumer pops a rivet during Alito's confirmation hearing.

Dems should have crammed Harriet Miers in while they had the chance. But hey, wasn't it fun watching all the conservative infighting? Hope so, cause every utterance of the word "Scalito" ensures you won't be seeing it again any time soon.

Scooter charged with perjury, obstruction of justice. Hopefully he gets a good lawyer.



He won't do well in prison.

I got tagged with various memes by various people, and I figured I'd gather them in one convenient place, for easy ignoring.

The first comes courtesy of PetitDov. This one says:

1. Go into your archives.
2. Find your 23rd post.
3. Post the fifth sentence (or closest to it).
4. Post the text of the sentence in your blog along with these instructions.
5. Tag five other people to do the same thing.

Post #23 was this, and sentence five reads as follows:

I once had a highly liberal professor teaching one of my Sociology classes in college, during the 1992 election.

Boy, that was a revelation, wasn't it? "College kid has liberal professor!" STOP THE FREAKING PRESSES!!!!

And, courtesy of Dawn Summers..., comes the all about Gib quiz. Then I realized I'm not that interesting, so I present the all about Gib, his wife, his pets, and his stupid blog quiz.

I made a Quiz for you! Take my Quiz! and then Check out the Scoreboard!

Dawn has both a beginner and advanced quiz. I'll classify mine as intermediate, and note that all answers were revealed at some point on the blog.

I also elect to tag everyone. If you've done one of these, you're hereby tagged to do the other. If you haven't been tagged for either of these - pick one.

Who are we kidding? Some snarkiness aside, after the President of Iran called for wiping Israel off the map, the world actually responded with very harsh language, and didn't include the qualifications that usually accompany anything that sounds like a defense of Israel.

Several European countries (including Spain and France) dragged their Iranian ambassador in for dressing down, and the Arab world responded with the decency and resolve expected from people we're supposed to take seriously on the whole Israeli-Palestinian conflict:

Egyptian Foreign Ministry and Cabinet officials said Cairo would have nothing to say on the address. Jordanian Deputy Prime Minister Marwan Muasher also declined comment.

Israel wants Iran thrown out of the U.N., a move rejected by Russia. Hey, I don't have any specific suggestions (OK, I do, but I have no illusions that Russia would go along with those either), but I would like an answer to this specific question:

What will Ahmadinejad's call for genocide cost Iran?

Cause if the answer is "a few days of bad press and a few 'bad dictator!' lectures," then the answer really is "nothing."

Then Harriet Miers withdraws. I should buy a lottery ticket on the way home tonight.

Because diplomacy totally works with people like Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad:

``Israel must be wiped off the map,'' Ahmadinejad told a conference called ``The World without Zionism,'' attended by some 3,000 conservative students who chanted ``Death to Israel'' and ''Death to America.''

``The Islamic world will not let its historic enemy live in its heartland,'' he said.

Strong language. Fortunately, the French have shown that the international community will not stand for this, responding with equally strong language.

"We have noted these press articles reporting the comments of President Ahmadinejad. If these comments were indeed made, we condemn them with the utmost firmness," French Foreign Ministry spokesman Jean-Baptiste Mattei said.

Hey, on the French scale, that's "Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!"

Tip - The Corner.

Mr. President, the Onion is not to be taken seriously. Please stop.

Tip - Alceste

14 innings later, it's 3-0.

...and someone to water my plants for the next 2 1/2 months. C.C. DeVille sentence to jail for DUI.

Sen. Norm Coleman claims he's got one on George Galloway - proving Saddam's oil money found its way to him. If true, it means Galloway perjured himself when he windbagged his way through the Senate a few months back. (Which I recall consisted of him largely trying to change to subject when asked about his connections to Saddam.) In any event, Galloway would apparently prefer to be seen as a guy who takes Saddam's side because he genuinely likes the guy, rather then because he's bought and paid for. He has challenged Sen. Coleman to charge him with perjury.

(Quick aside - that wouldn't be up to Coleman, or any U.S. Senator, of course. If Galloway would like to be charged with a federal crime, he may wish to contact U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, who can be reached here.)

And, while I hate to pour water on the delightful idea of Galloway going to prison a convicted liar - it's probably not the greatest idea. While he may be a liar, a fraud, and a wholly owned subsidiary of one of the more brutal dictators of our time, he is also a member of the British Parliament, and those diplomatic rows should be avoided whenever possible. Sure, it'd be nice to truck off our most demented Congressfolk to foreign prisons, and it would make me feel all warm and fuzzy inside to know a Mexican jail actually had a "Cynthia McKinney Suite," but we should respect the office of the British House of Commons, even if Galloway doesn't.

We learn Scott Peterson may not collect on his wife's life insurance.

Cited as proof that Stone Cold John Bolton is wrong about the UN - the UN's painstaking research into the assassination of former Lebanese PM Rafiq Hariri:

The UN report has given a huge boost to calls for reform in both Lebanon and Syria, and it wouldn't have happened if the report had come from anywhere else.

Well, the UN report proves something about the UN all right, but I'm not sure it proves that Bolton should apologize to the UN-huggers so much as it proves the UN-huggers should apologize to Stone Cold:

One crucial change, apparently made after the report was submitted to the UN chief, removed the name of President al-Assad’s brother, Maher, his brother-in-law, Assef al-Shawkat, and other high-ranking Syrian officials...

...Mr Annan had pledged repeatedly through his chief spokesman, Stephane Dujarric, that he would not change a word of the report by Detlev Mehlis, a German prosecutor. (emphasis added) But computer tracking showed that the final edit began at about 11.38am on Thursday — a minute after Herr Mehlis began a meeting with Mr Annan to present his report. The names of Maher al-Assad, General Shawkat and the others were apparently removed at 11.55am, after the meeting ended.

The Syrians, for there part, are handling the matter with all the respect and dignity you'd wish the US would show - they're blaming Israel.

And while we're bashing the UN - just an amusing side note involving their dealings with Taiwan can be found here.

Tip - Winds of Change.

I feel like such a pioneer.

1472 people signed up at the moment. Live-blogging your own participation in a poker tournament is probably overrated, since it's probably not a good idea to post the hands you folded and played while still playing, but let's see what the hell happens.

Good luck to Dawn, Alceste, and Karol. (And anyone else who signed up for this thing who visits that I don't know about.) Everyone else, may you get disconnected while holding rockets.

Update - Tournament has started - I have folded the first two hands. I will not be the first guy out. WHOO-HOO!

50 minutes into the tournament - Listened to spouse. Called. Lost giant pot. Learned from this.

60 minutes in - I swear, I've been blogging this whole time - Blogger's being cranky - tournament overload maybe? Anyway, I've made it to the first break, down about 400 chips, which is solely the fault of the spouse. To the extent it is my fault, it is my fault for listening to spouse. Everyone clear on that?

Man, I hope this goes through.

1 hr. 11 minutes in - just went all in - four to a flush and a straight. We both made the straight - split pot. Still kicking...

1 hr. 24 minutes in - And the dream is over. Table bully raises - I'm low stack, I raise all in, everyone else folds. I have KQ hearts, he turns over AJ offsuit. Flop is King, Jack, and something else. Turn helps no one, River is an Ace. I go out 844 out of 1473. Dog assures me he loves me anyway. He's a good dog.

And he never offered advice while I was playing, either.

Dawn and Karol are apparently still in. Give 'em hell, guys.

To the Blogger poker tournament. I'll take a shot at more or less live-blogging the thing, so we'll see how that goes.

If you're actually on PokerStars and looking for me - my handle is K-Dogs, and keep an eye out for this guy.



Just. Bring. It.

Humorous tidbit from a reporter's visit to North Korea:

The journalists' minder, Choe Jong-hun, conceded that there were "some" good Americans, such as Margaret Mitchell, author of "Gone with the Wind"; former Secretary of State Madeleine K. Albright; and Roger Clinton, half-brother of the former president. The latter two had both visited Pyongyang.

That's Roger Clinton, not Bill. And as far as he and Secretary Albright getting props for visiting, I suspect they're really being recognized for visiting and not pointing out to their hosts that North Korea was pretty clearly run by a band of inept lunatics.

I'm surprised he didn't mention professional wrestler Scott Norton, who wrestled in Pyongyang as part of some giant festival Kim Il Sung was throwing. As the Man himself, Ric Flair tells it:

In the dining room where the wrestlers ate, there was a camera in each corner, monitoring every movement. When Scott Norton called his wife and said, "This place sucks," his phone line suddenly went dead.

The Nature Boy also gave a great reminder of why Muhammed Ali rocked (and probably won't make any Nork list of great Americans):

Because of the ravages of Parkinson's disease, it was difficult to understand Muhammad Ali when he spoke. But at one function, we were sitting at a big, round table with a group of North Korean luminaries when one of the guys started rambling on about the moral superiority of North Korea, and how they could take out the United States or Japan any time they wanted. Suddenly, Ali piped up, clear as a bell, "No wonder we hate these motherf*ckers."

Tip - Mudville Gazette.

Hopefully for Georgia fans, this will be the only time the hogs win this week.

So Tom Coburn puts on his Don Quixote hat, and tilts at some the sillier windmills, pork-wise, and gets smacked down, hard. To truly appreciate the show, witness Washington Sen. Patty Murray playing Tony Soprano and Alaska Sen. Ted Stevens playing a whiny bitch. Closer to home, both Georgia Senators - alleged Republicans Saxby Chambliss and Johnny Isakson sided with the drama queens.

I sent the obligatory cranky missives, but neither Senator is up in 2006, and voter memories are notoriously short. Also, looking at some recent achievements on the Sax Machine's website suggests that Saxy Boy and the walking undead think scrambling for taxpayer dollars like reality show contestants chasing acting jobs.

And when they claim that other things are pork, but their projects are different, they're as believable as reality show contestants acting.

Church of Scientology sends threatening letter to guy with website making fun of Tom Cruise. Media catches wind of story. Website blows up huge.

Join the fun.

Latest word from the "exemplary" Fulton County Sheriff's Department - Fulton County jail employees are spending time at work downloading porn.

"They need to be working," Sheriff Myron Freeman said. "The taxpayers don't need to pay people for watching pornography."

I'm telling you, nothing gets by that guy.

Congratulations to the Houston Astros for making it to the World Series, where they will face the Chicago White Sox. (Or, as some people call them - "the Angels.")

While I'm sure everyone is going to have a favorite team, and when you choose who to root for, I'd just like you to consider this article - pointing out that Fidel Castro would be disappointed in a White Sox victory, due to the Sox' great season so far being achieved with the aid of two Cuban defectors, Orlando Hernandez and Jose Contreras (Chicago's game 1 starter).

To sum up - people who root for the Astros are communists.

Thank you, and may the best team win.

Once again, North Korea. Reporters Without Borders did its top to bottom list of how countries are doing in the free press area. Apparently Judith Miller going to jail is worth about 20 spots all on her own - the U.S. fell from 22 to 44 - apparently we get no RSF love for the multitude of stories about Judith Miller going to jail.

Total list here - and I present the bottom 10...

158 Vietnam 73,25
159 China 83,00
160 Nepal 86,75
161 Cuba 87,00
162 Libya 88,75
163 Burma 88,83
164 Iran 89,17
165 Turkmenistan 93,50
166 Eritrea 99,75
167 North Korea 109,00

Compared to 2004's bottom 10...

158 Iran 78,30
159 Saudi Arabia 79,17
160 Nepal 84,00
161 Vietnam 86,88
162 China 92,33
163 Eritrea 93,25
164 Turkmenistan 99,83
165 Burma 103,63
166 Cuba 106,83
167 North Korea 107,50

Nice to see some real progress from the likes of Iran, Cuba, Vietnam, and Eritiea. And hey, even Turkmenbashi's moving things forward. Somebody build that man a giant statue!

Michael Jackson summoned for jury duty.

Legally minded folks - insert your own Batson joke here.

The Chinese government likes to put an academic face on their repression by issuing "white papers" explaining things like why people who disagree with them need to be run over by tanks. Their most recent discusses this call for "democracy", and concludes hey, good news, we in China already got that. Of course, you have to read the fine print, which in this case is the definition of Chinese democracy:

“Democratic government is the Chinese Communist party governing on behalf of the people ... while upholding and perfecting the people's democratic dictatorship,” the document said.

Regarding their use of the word "democracy", Inigo, what do you have for us?



"You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means."

Chinese Democracy. Before, just the most expensive album never released. (Coming soon, we swear!) Now, it's a Montoya Award Winner.

Saddam Hussein asks for delay.

Meanwhile, DeLay asks for speedy trial.

Dave Justus makes an interesting observation from Saddam's court appearance today.

Tip - The Poisonous Evil Towns...something something...this person.

Exhibit #2342B - this interview between Barbara Walters and Saudi King Abdullah. His majesty has as his translator a snake named Adel al-Jubeir, (previously known to American audiences as the guy who covers for Saudi thefts of American children) does the translating. According to the New Republic, what Abdullah actually says and what al-Jubeir "translates" don't often really resemble each other - allowing the Americans to hear one version - al-Jubeir's moderate, accomodating "translation", and the Saudis to get another, being given Abdullah's answers in the original Arabic, with, of course, a statement removed here and there.

I'm sure his majesty would have nixed it, but journalists doing these interviews should bring there own interpreters. If Babs had a guy break in and say, "excuse me, your highness, but Mr. Al-Jubeir didn't accurately translate what you just said," that would have been must-see TV.

Yes, I am now 6-0, thanks to the Rams' second half collapse that kept Torry Holt from pushing my opponent past me.

I was down a ton after Sunday afternoon's games - but once again, two little words made everything all right.

Shaun. Freaking. Alexander.

One sure way to make me feel good about a guy is to tell me he's pissing off Robert Mugabe.

"Must we allow these men, the two unholy men of our millennium, who in the same way as Hitler and Mussolini formed (an) unholy alliance, formed an alliance to attack an innocent country?" he asked rhetorically.

And, just so's we're all clear - let's get Mr. Mugabe's list of innocent countries:

"The voice of Mr Bush and the voice of Mr Blair can't decide who shall rule in Zimbabwe, who shall rule in Africa, who shall rule in Asia, who shall rule in Venezuela, who shall rule in Iran, who shall rule in Iraq," he said.

And, of course, if one wanted to, one could note that inviting Robert Mugabe to speak at an event commemorating the UN's anti-hunger agency says quite a bit about the UN, given how much hunger Mugabe has personally caused.

But that kind of talk makes the world hate us, so never mind.

THIRTY-NINE QUESTIONS FOR CHARLIE DANIELS UPON HEARING "The Devil Went Down to Georgia" for the First Time in 25 Years.

Tip - Volokhs.

Remind me again, why does my state get stuck with Ralph Reed?

Running for Lt. Governor of Georgia as, among other things, a foe of gambling, Reed actually lobbied against a ban on internet gambling (a ban that ultimately got defeated.) He's also accused of assisting lobbyist-turned-potential-felon Jack Abramoff in going after Republican lawmakers who voted in favor of the ban.

Reed's defense - "Hey, I got paid to oppose the ban on gambling, and I did that. I am not a hypocrite, I am a whore, and Georgia deserves a Lt. Gov. who understands the difference.!" (Yes, I know I stole that from SNL.)

Tip - Of the Mind.

Bring on the Astros. Or the Cardinals. No, wait, better make it the Astros.



Joe Crede should have been the MVP. But that's nitpicking - and isn't it nice to finally see a crazy Venezuelan bastard get some good press, after all - the other one is giving them a bad name.

That's the new James Bond - Daniel Craig, best known for appearing in movies I haven't seen, or playing people I don't remember in movies I have seen.

Just looking at him, I'd say he's a better choice than anyone except maybe Clive Owen or Hugh Jackman (and way, way the hell ahead of Goran Whatthehelleverhisnameis. Did you guys see Elektra?)

OK, I could agree more, but I do agree, so let's dispense with the semantics.

The UN has declared that the end of poverty depends on equal rights for women.

Glad to hear it. I look forward to a refocused UN that reserves its condemnation for nations that deny women the right to vote, run for office, criticise the government publicly, work at any job they're qualified for, drive, dance, own property, wear a giant bag or a miniskirt as their tastes dictate, or hit puberty without facing brutal genital mutilation.

A UN that truly cared about the principles these reports address (you know, if guys like Stone Cold John Bolton were wrong about them), would get right on it, and, as a practical matter, would probably not have time to condemn Israel (where women can do all of the above), for a couple of decades at least.

Anyone want to place bets on that happening?

It ain't pretty, but we'll take it.

5-0, despite Tiki Barber having the week off literally, and Brandon Lloyd having the week off practically, cause his idiot rookie quarterback couldn't find a wide receiver if his life depended on it.

Talk about something I wasn't sure I'd ever see...

She's probably somewhere in the sphere of people who are intellectually and ethically qualified to serve on the Supreme Court, and while she's not who I would have picked, I am not, last time I checked, the President, so I don't get to say.

She's probably not a strict judicial conservative, but in case people forgot, neither is Bush, so it shouldn't really surprise people when he occasionally does not-conservative things. The fact that Bush's opponents are convinced he worships at the altar of far-right troglodytiness is their mental malfunction - other people shouldn't adopt it, even if they want it to be true.

One thing I would say against the nomination, however, is that when the President does things that upset his base, he should at least get a little goodwill from the other side out of it. And that, my friends, ain't happening.

Which means the only thing we get out of this whole fooferall is the insight and wisdom of Harriet Miers. And as insight and wisdom go, we could do better.

Put me down as nominally opposed.

Hamas explains the kind of Palestinian state that would exist when that damn Zionist neo-con conspiracy finally gets its comeuppance:

“A man holds a woman by the hand and dances with her in front of everyone. Does that serve the national interest?” Dr Zahar said on the Arabic website Elaph. “If so, why have the phenomena of corruption and prostitution become pervasive in recent years?”

Let me just say that if Dr. Zahar's nation is threatened by a man and a woman holding hands in public, Dr. Zahar is part of a Nation of Wusses. There's also this:

Dr Zahar condemned homosexual marriage, saying: “Are these the laws for which the Palestinian street is waiting? For us to give rights to homosexuals and to lesbians, a minority of perverts and the mentally and morally sick?”

And, in the last dose of what would be comedy if these nitwits weren't armed:

He denied that Hamas wanted a puritancial regime, and said its political and social institutions included women.

For, pretty much everything Dr. Zahar had to say, I present you with the highly-coveted Inigo Montoya Award.



"You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means."

Tip - Karol.

...will be given out when Major League Baseball names its most valuable players. Until then, we can watch Mohammed El-Baradei celebrate his Nobel Peace Prize for his work on nuclear non-proliferation:

"The award basically sends a very strong message, which is: Keep doing what you are doing," ElBaradei said.

Cited as examples of El-Baradei's work are efforts in Iran and North Korea, cause hey, neither of them have nuked anyone yet. It's also worth noting that the IAEA's dealings with Iran have restored a luster to telling the UN to cram it that apparently got tarnished due to actions of Captain Unilateral.

Which, technically speaking, they haven't. Any any year George Ryan doesn't win the damn thing is a year the Nobel Committee could have done worse.

John Smoltz vs. Roger Clements in a must-win playoff game doesn't sell out? Even the effort to blame potentially bad weather, instead of the fact that Atlanta is a crappy sports town falls short:

The Braves rarely sellout Division Series games unless it's a Game 5, or Chicago Cubs fans are involved.

This town does not deserve a baseball team. They do, however, deserve the Hawks.

True story - riding home from work yesterday. My co-worker who's driving us that day has various Georgia Bulldog stickers on his car. A semi pulls up alongside us on the interstate, and at 65 miles an hour, attempts to ask if we have any extra tickets to the Georgia-Tennessee game we'd be willing to sell.

Re: TomKat pregnancy.

The report on our local newscast: A spokesman for the couple confirmed the pregnancy, but declined to comment on the sex or the due date.

Me: "Declined to comment on the sex?" You mean, whether they actually had any?

At the Summit of the Americas, apparently George Bush and Hugo Chavez are scheduled to dine together.

You know, if that secret assassination plan Chavez keeps going on about really exists, the great neocon conspiracy is never going to get a better shot.

Is people need to not give their kids silly names. Of course, it can be forgivable in certain circumstances. Being tagged "Gilbert" (and going through junior high school while "Revenge of the Nerds" was tearing up theaters) made my life a little more difficult than it would have been otherwise. However, I was named after my dad, who I consider a great man, so it wasn't so bad. And like my cinematic namesake, I ultimately turned out OK, my which I mean I married up. Way up.

So, to sum up, it's OK to give your child an unconventional name if you're naming the kid after a great man. And they don't get much greater than Superman. So, if Nicolas Cage wants to name his kid after Supes, go for it. But Kal-El? Dude, Kal-El is what they called him on Krypton. Here on earth, his name is Clark. You could have named him Clark. And don't give me this "nobody's going to pick on a movie star's kid" crap. If the reviews and grosses for "Lord of War" tell us anything, it's that Cage's claim to stardom may not be what it once was. Which means that kid may be show up at junior high as nothing more than the son of the guy who got Michael Jackson's castoffs. And Apple Martin and Pilot Inspektor Lee will beat that kid's ass. That Pilot and Apple will subsequently get their butts kicked by Maddox Jolie is beside the point.

In conclusion - "Clark Cage" will need a stick to fend off all the girls. "Kal-El Cage" will have his finest moments in "Yu-Gi-Oh" tournaments at the back room of his local comic shop.

I know of which I speak.

Please note additional comments from Dawn.

British soccer player Nicky Butt, already serving a suspension for abusing match officials, has had his suspension extended by one game. So of course, the headline reads:

Butt ban extended.

Cause when you have behavior like that, you don't want to just sit on it.

Popular films promote irresponsible sex and drug use.

Apparently James Bond and Basic Instinct are poor role models when it comes to promoting prophylactics, contraception, monogamy, and other words that make Charlie Sheen's head hurt.

But don't worry. When Hollywood tells you who to vote for - then they're completely reliable. Just like the condoms James Bond uses.

Oh, wait...

An open letter to Palestinians from Yossi Klein Halevi. The entire thing merits reading, but here's an excerpt:

Your society, on the other hand, has made virtually no effort to understand our narrative.

Instead, you have developed what can be called a "culture of denial," that denies the most basic truths of the Jewish story. According to this culture of denial, which is widespread not only among your people but throughout the Arab world, there was no Temple in Jerusalem, no ancient Jewish presence in the land, no Holocaust.

In other news, an Arab resolution to insist Israel sign the nuclear non-proliferation treaty and open up their suspected nuclear sites to international inspection failed. If the existence of the Jewish state were accepted in the Arab world (albeit with some open questions on borders), Israel would probably face a lot more pressure to open up on their nuclear ability. Of course saying "if the existence of the Jewish state were accepted in the Arab world" is a lot like saying "if chickens sang opera." It ain't gonna happen, which means Israel is going to build a big honking wall, and you can just guess how many nukes they have.

Tip - Volokh Conspiracy.

Thanks to the New Orleans Saints benching Joe Horn without telling me, I am behind in my fantasy football game. (Would it be wrong to want a hurricane to hit San Antonio?)

Two, count 'em, two field goals, from John Kasay, however, would put me at 4-0. So tonight, I will be rooting for Carolina to drive to about the 10 yard line, then have their offense fall apart.

Fantasy Football. It makes every game count.